Originally Posted by
Often1
The tags are to make people feel self-important. Could have been ditched several years ago, but then self-important people would not feel quite so important.
The "priority" is baked into the bar code in the printed bag tag. Whether UA does or does not load the bags last (so that they are first to the belt) is another issue.
You beat me to it. They are completely superfluous. On a side note, on the last three flights (all international), my priority bags came out either in the back half or dead last.